Tag Archives: Teacher Authors

Acclaimed author Pat Conroy most relished his role as teacher

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Pat Conroy

Educator and author Pat Conroy

Sometimes in history a talented educator earns fame, fortune, and acclaim in the literary world. One teacher like this is Pat Conroy, considered by many the leading figure of Southern literature of the late 20th century. Pat Conroy is the author of two acclaimed novels: The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini. Both these novels have garnered Academy Awards as films. He also penned the successful novel The Lords of Discipline.

Donald Patrick Conroy was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on October 26, 1945. His father was a Marine Corps fighter pilot, and for this reason his family moved frequently. Pat once said he attended eleven different schools before his sophomore year. Also, he has often described his father as abusive and his childhood as traumatic.

As a college student, Pat attended The Citadel, an all-male military college in South Carolina. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in English in 1967. After earning his degree, Pat accepted a position as an English teacher at Beaufort High School in Beaufort, South Carolina. While there, he wrote his first novel, The Boo, which he self-published using money he borrowed from the bank.

After two years, Pat spent a year teaching at a two-room school on Daufuskie Island off the coast of South Carolina. There he worked to expand the horizons of his African American students, poorly-educated kids who spoke the Gullah dialect and had very little knowledge of the world beyond their island. Pat’s unorthodox instructional methods caused the superintendent of schools to fire him after just one year. Nevertheless, Pat relished his job as an educator. “There’s no word in the language I revere more than ‘teacher,'” Pat said in 1986. “My heart sings when a kid refers to me as his teacher, and it always has. I’ve honored myself and the entire family of man by becoming a teacher.”

This dedicated educator and outstanding author passed away from pancreatic cancer on March 4, 2016. He was 70 years old. He is interred at St. Helena Memorial Garden on St. Helena Island, South Carolina. To read the 2009 interview with Pat Conroy published by Low Country Weekly, click on The Power of Circles.

 

Alan Lawrence Sitomer: Nationally recognized educator, public speaker, and novelist

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Alan Lawrence Sitomer

Alan Lawrence Sitomer

You know, sometimes teachers make the best authors. One educator who proves this is true is high school English teacher Alan Lawrence Sitomer. Alan has earned a reputation nationally for his success in engaging reluctant readers and his aptitude as an engaging motivational speaker. He is also the celebrated author of children’s books, young adult fiction, and books about teaching pedagogy.

Born in 1967, Alan earned his Bachelor’s degree from University of Southern California, his teaching certificate through San Diego State University, and his Master’s degree from National University. He has taught English, creative writing, speech, debate, and AVID at Lynwood High School, an inner city school located in Lynwood, Los Angeles County, California. He has also worked as a professor in the Graduate School of Education at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

Alan’s published novels for kids include The Hoopster, Hip Hop High School, and Homeboyz. He has also authored Hip-Hop Poetry & the Classics, a text that is currently being used in classrooms throughout the United States to teach classic poetry through hip-hop. The approach is intended to engaged reluctant students in both poetry and academics. Other titles published by Alan are a teacher’s methodology book entitled Teaching Teens & Reaping Results: In a Wi-Fi, Hip-Hop, Where-Has-All-The-Sanityh-Gone World and The Alan Sitomer BookJam.

Recently, Alan has been working on a series of “BookJams.” These projects are designed to raise test scores by promoting his standards-based activities and lesson plans, hands-on learning projects, useful grading rubrics, differentiated assessments, and award-winning literature. See more about this at The Alan Sitomer BookJam.

This amazing teacher was named California Teacher of the Year by the California Board of Education in 2007. You can find his books on amazon.com and his website at www.alanlawrencesitomer.com.

Elementary teacher and acclaimed author John Bibee

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John Bibee

Teacher and children’s author John Bibee.

Many excellent classroom teachers are also gifted authors. One example of this is elementary teacher John Bibee, who also happens to be a celebrated children’s book author.

John was born on January 2, 1954, in Delaware. His father was a horticulturist and his mother was an elementary school teacher and reading specialist. When he was a young boy, his family moved frequently, living for periods of time in Florida, Missouri, and Colorado. When he was in the eighth grade, John’s family returned to Delaware.

During his childhood, John’s parents nurtured his deep love for reading. His passion for writing was inspired by his eighth grade English teacher, Norman Reynolds. Early in life John determined to write inspirational stories for kids. In fact, many of his books have been read aloud on radio during children’s story hours.

John has authored many books for young people. He has published eight books in the Spirit Flyer Series, and eight mysteries in the Home School Detectives series. John’s stories, many of which are allegorical in nature, stimulate the imaginations of his readers through adventure tales and fantasy stories that lead the characters into the Deeper World, a place where children play an important role in the struggle between good and evil.

John’s work has won widespread acclaim. Several of his books have won awards from Christian Home & School Magazine. To check out his books on InterVarsity Press website, click on John Bibee.

Spanish teacher and social commentator Lillian Greer Bedichek

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Lillian Greer Bedichek

Lillian Greer Bedichek

Skilled classroom teachers are often recognized for advanced accomplishments in their field. One teacher that fits this description is Lillian Greer Bedichek, a world languages teacher who is known for her contribution to awareness of social issues in the American Southwest.

Lillian was born in 1885 in Keachie, Louisiana, the daughter of James and Virginia Greer. In 1893, her family moved to Waco, Texas, because her father had accepted employment as vice president of Baylor University.

Upon her high school graduation, Lillian enrolled at Baylor, but later she transferred to the University of Texas. There she majored in Greek and minored in Latin. Lillian earned her Bachelor’s degree from Baylor in 1903. She earned her Master’s degree from the University of Texas in 1926.

In 1910, Lillian married celebrated naturalist Roy Bedichek. Before her marriage, the young educator taught in Waco public schools, at Grayson College, and in Deming, New Mexico. When she became pregnant with her first child, Lillian took a break from the classroom. Before long, two additional children were born to the couple.

In 1917, Lillian returned to the classroom when she accepted a position as a Spanish teacher at Austin High School. Eventually, she became the chair of the Spanish Department there. She even published a textbook, Mastering Spanish, in 1945.

Outside of the classroom, Lillian joined a network of educators, folklorists, and writers who were active in raising awareness about social and cultural issues of the American Southwest. She contributed to the movement by writing book reviews and publishing articles about life in the Southwest, including her concerns about sharecropping and land ownership. For her efforts, Lillian was recognized in 1965 as an honorary member of the Texas Institute of Letters. In addition, the University of Texas distributes an annual scholarship named in honor of Lillian and her husband.

Lillian passed away in 1971 at the age of 86. She is buried in Eddy Cemetery in the city of Falls, Texas. To learn more about this amazing chalkboard champion, click on Lillian Greer Bedichek.

Mark Zubro: The Chicago teacher who became a best-selling author

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Mark Zubro

Mark Zubro

There are many examples of fine educators who have become successful authors. One of these is Mark Richard Zubro, a junior high school English teacher from Illinois who has earned a name as a celebrated author of bestselling mysteries.

Mark was born in Racine, Wisconsin, on August 9, 1948. When he was 13, his family moved to California, where the young boy was enrolled in Notre Dame High School, a private Catholic high school located in Riverside. He graduated from Notre Dame in 1966. Mark then enrolled in St. Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri, where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in English in 1970. Six years later, he earned his Master’s degree in Urban Teacher Education from Governors State University in University Park, Illinois. Mark was a teacher of English at Summit Hill Junior High in Frankfort Square, Illinois, in a career that spanned 34 years. He retired in 2006.

Mark’s novels have settings in the Chicago area of Illinois. His work has been widely praised as fast-paced, featuring engaging plots and well-rounded, personable characters. Typically treating gay themes, Mark’s longest running series features a high school teacher, Tom Mason, and Tom’s boyfriend, a professional baseball player named Scott Carpenter. The other series Mark is well known for is the Paul Turner mysteries, which are about a police detective from Chicago.

For his novel A Simple Suburban Murder, Mark earned a Lambda Literary Award for Best Gay Men’s Mystery. The Lambda Literary Awards recognize the best books published with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender themes.

You can read more about this talented educator and gifted author in this interview published by the Windy City Times.